


Rainbows Are Very Punk Rock

by hermionejean



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Alternate Universe - Tumblr, F/M, M/M, jily, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-14 11:04:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5741323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermionejean/pseuds/hermionejean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius has a crush on the cute boy from the coffee shop across the street from the record store he works at. James has a crush on the pretty girl he met on Tumblr. Remus and Lily are trying to figure out the best way to ask someone out. Everyone is struggling through their first year of uni.<br/>A Wolfstar/Jily fic set in the modern muggle world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter Summary:  
> Barista Boy and The Most Beautiful Girl On Tumblr
> 
>  
> 
> **Messages sent by James are bolded**  
>  _Messages sent by Sirius are italicized_

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barista Boy and the Most Beautiful Girl on Tumblr

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Messages sent by James are bolded**   
>  _Messages sent by Sirius are italicized_

James Potter stared vacantly at the computer screen in front of him, his half written psychology essay becoming a jumble of unintelligible gibberish as the letters danced before his eyes. He had never been able to focus on any one thing for extended periods of time, and essays had always been a struggle for him. His mind had started wandering about halfway through his second body paragraph and he knew that concentrating on the assignment was only going to become more difficult as the night went on. 

James pushed his chair back from the desk, got up, and went to go find something to eat. He wasn’t really hungry, but he needed to give his brain a break before even considering continuing the essay. This was going to be a long night.

He made his way quietly down the stairs to the kitchen of the little London flat he shared with his best friend, Sirius Black. The two had started their first year of uni a couple of months ago and had decided to move in together over the summer. Sirius had lived with James and his family for a couple of years after he had run away from an abusive household, but it wasn’t until recently that the two had lived together without any adults. Originally, their friend Peter Pettigrew had lived with them as well, but he had moved out three weeks ago to go live with his new girlfriend, Becca. James and Sirius were secretly betting on how long the relationship would last and when Peter would move back in with them.

James poured some cereal and milk into a bowl and began eating it without really thinking about what he was doing. He glanced at the clock above the stove and saw that it was a little past eleven thirty. The essay was due at nine o’clock the next morning. A small frown appeared on his face as he remembered that Sirius had said that he would be home around eleven. He pulled out his phone and sent Sirius a text: 

**Hey idiot where are you?**

James checked his Instagram while he finished his cereal and waited for Sirius’ reply, which came soon enough.

_At the coffee shop across the street from Ollivander’s. You know the one._

James smirked. Sirius worked at Ollivander’s Records, which was run by some old guy Sirius insisted was pretty cool but whom James was somewhat creeped out by. Sirius’ shift had ended at ten thirty today, which was why he was supposed to get home so late, but of course he had decided to go to the coffee shop. He had gone there everyday for the past two weeks.

**Is Barista Boy there?**

_Stfu_

**Well, is he?**

_Maybe._

_And don’t call him Barista Boy._

**I will gladly call him by his name when you tell me it**

_I will gladly tell you his name when I learn it_

**Oh my god you’ve been stalking him for two weeks and you still don’t know his name??**

_I have not been stalking him! And they don’t have name tags! What kind of place doesn’t make their employees wear name tags, anyway?_

**You have so been stalking him. And you could always, you know, talk to him or something. Like a normal human being would**

_Prongs! I can’t do that! And don’t you have an essay to write?_

**Don’t try to change the topic, Pads. And don’t you have to write that essay too?**

_I did it yesterday_

**What the hell could have possibly motivated you to do your homework before the day before it’s due??**

_I was at the coffee shop. The cute boy was cleaning tables. I had to look productive or risk him finding out I was watching him. I wrote the essay._

**Ok great I’m glad your obsession with Barista Boy is helping you with your academic endeavors but right now I need you to get your arse over here and help me with mine**

_Fuck you_

_Fine._

*****

James managed to get a B on the essay with the help of Sirius and Wikipedia, but their course load only got worse as the semester wore on. James and Peter struggled to keep up, but Sirius managed to actually stay on top of his homework, something he had never been able to do in his life.

“It’s not fair,” Peter complained on one dreary day in November. The three friends were sprawled out in the small sitting room of James and Sirius’ apartment, planning their next act of mischief and mayhem. Papers were strewn all over the place and there were several open textbooks scattered about, along with clothes (whose original owners could not be remembered as the boys shared so much) and a couple of empty water bottles and wrappers. “James and I are up to all hours of the night doing homework and Sirius is always done by midnight! I don’t understand.”

“It’s because he spends all his time in that coffee shop pining over Barista Boy,” James responded in a tone of mock disappointment. “Before we know it, he’s going to start color coding his notes and volunteering to do extra credit.”

“I will not!” Sirius replied indignantly. “I am just surrounded by studious people doing studious things and so have to appear studious in order to not stand out. I don’t want _him_ to start wondering why I go there if not for the peaceful studying environment,” Sirius said, grimacing. “It’s very... _nerdy_ in there though. I feel very out of place,” he added, trying to assure the others that he still hated schoolwork as much as they did. 

“It’s not good for your punk cred,” Peter noted, and he and James laughed. 

“You shut up about my punk cred! I am very punk rock! I’m--stop laughing! James! Ugh, you two are both idiots. I’m going to be late for work,” Sirius said, glancing at his phone. “I’ll be back later and we can continue our scheming.”

“Ok, see you later, Pads,” James said, throwing a pillow at him. Sirius easily caught it and chucked it right back.

“Bye Padfoot!” Peter called as Sirius left the room.

“Guess it’s just us now,” James said, turning to Peter.

“Sorry, Prongs, but I’ve got a date with Becca later. I have to leave in a half hour.”

“Dammit. Fine. We need to talk about Padfoot though. It’s time for Operation: Meet Barista Boy.”

“You think we should set them up?” Peter asked worriedly.

“What else are we going to do? Sirius sure as hell isn’t going to talk to him. I don’t know why and I’ve tried to talk him into it, but he won’t. I’m sick of hearing about this guy, and I’m especially sick of Pads being more on top of homework than us.”

“Hear, hear” Peter added.

“So, first of all we have to figure out who Barista Boy is. Sirius won’t let us come with him to the coffee shop because he knows we’d talk to the guy, and we can’t follow him because he’s too damn smart and would know what we're up to.”

“We could ask someone to help us? Like one of our other friends. What about Fabian or Gideon? They don’t know about Barista Boy.”

“Yeah, because they don’t know Sirius is queer, and we can’t risk them finding out,” James said, frowning. “Sirius trusts us with that secret, and we can’t put him at risk. We don’t know how they’d react. No, we have to do this ourselves.”

“Hmm,” Peter grunted, not knowing what else to say.

The two sat there in silence for a while, each lost in his own thoughts, before Peter eventually had to leave for his date.

“We’ll think of something,” Peter tried to assure James before he left. James hummed in response, clearly still too absorbed in attempting to solve their problem to properly respond. He stared at the wall, contemplating their dilemma for a few minutes before grabbing his laptop off the table it was on and setting it up in his lap. His best ideas came when he could talk them through with someone, so for now at least he might as well do something else.

James pulled up his Tumblr dash because he certainly wasn’t going to do anything academically productive on a Saturday afternoon. That’s what Sunday night was for: cramming in all the homework he should have started sooner, regretting most of his life decisions, and promising himself he wouldn’t do this next weekend (a promise he of course would never keep). 

He sat scrolling there for about an hour, through posts about his favorite bands and television shows, updates on the latest sports news, some interesting song covers he sent to Sirius, and countless other posts that all seemed to blur together. He was just about to log out and go look for a party that he, Sirius, and Peter could attend this weekend when he saw her.

The most beautiful girl on Tumblr.

The most beautiful girl in the world.

She had dark red hair that fell to just past her shoulders and a dusting of freckles across her nose. Her eyes were almond shaped and a bright emerald green, and they sparkled with more happiness than he thought could possibly fit in such a small space. The photo was taken from her waist up, and she wore a pastel blue and white sundress that hung loosely about her shoulders. The girl was laughing, and James thought that her smile was brighter than any he had ever seen before. The post was captioned with some quote about happiness, but James didn’t bother to read it as he was too busy staring at the girl. He clicked on her URL (tigerlilylights) and decided to go through her account.

According to her bio, the girl’s name was Lily, she was 19, bisexual, and very much into science, and she played both the piano and the violin. James began scrolling through her posts, which consisted of nature aesthetics, positivity quotes, indie and classical music, things from books, mental health and self care information, feminism, and LGBT+ related stuff. It was a pretty cool blog. James hesitated a little, then clicked the follow button. He also sent an anonymous message to her:

**Hey I just wanted to say that you are very pretty and have very nice hair and gorgeous eyes ok bye**

He triple checked that he was on anon before sending it as he was well aware of the fact that he sounded like a complete dork and had no desire for this Lily to think of him as a nerd. He also texted Sirius:

**OH MY GOD you need to go on tumblr right now and look up tigerlilylights because she is gorgeous and amazing and I think I am in love**

_Have you talked to her?_

**No but her blog is cool and I repeat she is gorgeous**

_Ok ok I’m looking her up_

**Well??**

_She does have a nice blog but how do you know what she looks like?_

**She posted a picture at some point and it was on my dash and OH MY GOD Sirius let me go find it for you**

_Wait never mind I found a picture of her_

**And?**

_She's definitely very pretty. Maybe not as pretty as the cute boy serving coffee across the room from me, but still audits attractive. I like her hair_

**I know her hair is great**

_You should message her_

**I sent an anon message saying I thought she was pretty**

_Lame_

**At least I haven’t memorized her work schedule**

_Touché_

**Did you follow her?**

_Yeah_

**Ok good. You’re going to help me start talking to her**

_Why don’t I just message her like “hey my mate James thinks you’re pretty here’s his url” and then start planning your wedding?_

**Because then I’d tell Barista Boy about your crush on him**

_You wouldn’t_

**I would**

_You don’t know who he is though_

**Yes but you’ve texted me his schedule and described him at length so I’m sure if I asked someone who works there they’d be able to tell me who he is**

**Or at least tell him that someone is stalking him**

_Dammit_

_Ok I’ll help you get to know her and I won’t be so straightforward about it_

**Good**

**I’ll help you with Barista Boy, too**

**And I won’t tell him you’ve stalked him**

_So I guess we’ve got some double dates to look forward to then?_

**Triple. You forgot about Pete**

_He and Becca won't last that long_

**I know. We’ll have to get him another girlfriend**

_I suppose so. In that case, Operation: Triple Date is a go_

**We’ll do some more planning when you get home**

_Ok then. See you later_

**See you later**

**And just a reminder don’t you dare message Lily without telling me first**

**Git**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! As you can probably tell, this is a wolfstar/jily fic I will be writing. I'm not British, so if I screw up some British thing (or anything, for that matter) please let me know! I will update when I can, but I do have a rather busy schedule so I apologize in advance if it's a while between updates. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day off and two hopeless romantics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Messages sent by Lily are underlined   
>  __  
>  **Messages sent by Remus are bolded and italicized**   
> 

Remus Lupin was either going to burn alive or be murdered by his flat mates , and he wasn’t sure which was worse.

It was Saturday and he (miraculously) wasn’t working, so he of course did not get out of bed until almost one o’clock in the afternoon. His two roommates (Lily and Dorcus) were who-knows-where, so he had decided to make himself pancakes for breakfast. That was his first mistake.

His second, third, and fourth mistakes (in order) were: adding too much flour to his first batch of pancake batter and nearly choking on the damn stuff, accidentally turning on the wrong burner on the stove and singeing a perfectly good oven mitt, and, after finally turning on the _right_ burner, letting the pancake cook too long and filling the apartment with smoke.

He felt as though he were coughing up a lung and his eyes were watering so much that he couldn’t see, so he opened up a window in an attempt to clear the kitchen of the horrendous fumes. Remus tried to turn off the burner and ended up burning himself in the process. After finally turning off the stove, he threw out the ruined pancake and chucked the frying pan into the sink.

One bandage, fifteen minutes, and a barrage of curse words later, Remus was seated in his kitchen with a bitter cup of black coffee and a bitter expression on his face. He was still hungry, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to try cooking anything else anytime soon. Annoyed, he poured himself a bowl of cereal and checked his phone. He had one message from Lily:

Are you at the coffee shop?

**_No, today’s my day off. Why?_ **

Damn. I wanted you to bring me some muffins

**_Why?_ **

Because I like muffins

**_Well, sorry to disappoint you_ **

Nah, it’s fine. What are you up today?

**_...definitely not burning down the flat_ **

Remus! The fuck did you do??

**_Nothing! Well, not nothing. I might have burned my pancakes and filled the flat with smoke. Maybe. But the smell is going away now. I’ve opened all the windows_ **

How can you be a barista and not know how to cook without setting something on fire??

**_You don’t need to know how to cook to be a barista!! Just how to use the coffee making machines and like, the little oven they use for warming up pastries. It’s not that hard._ **

Ok ok. Are you going to the coffee shop at all today though?

**_Why would I go to the coffee shop on my day off?_ **

You know why

**_???_ **

Oh come on

**_What are you talking about?_ **

You’re ridiculous, you know

**_No, I don't know. What are you talking about?_ **

I just thought you might want to you know

See /him/

And since you’re not working

You could like

Actually /talk/ to him

**_Jesus christ_ **

**_Why are you so obsessed with this??_ **

Me?? Obsessed?? Excuse you, but I’m not the one who's been talking about him nonstop for the past week and a half

**_For fuck’s sake_ **

**_No, I am not going to go to the coffee shop to talk to a stranger who probably doesn’t know I exist_ **

He sees you almost every day though! He must know who you are by now

**_I highly doubt it_ **

Come on

You two were made for each other

**_No we weren’t_ **

**_And even we did end up talking, he wouldn’t want anything to do with me once he learned about the HIV thing_ **

Sure he would

**_No he wouldn’t_ **

**_And even if he didn't_ **

**_He would care about the other thing_ **

What other thing?

**_You know what other thing_ **

Remus

_**Most people like their guys to have dicks, Lily!** _

If he cares that you're trans, then he's an asshole and you deserve someone better!

Besides **_  
_ **

You can’t just not talk to people because you’re afraid they’ll reject you

**_It's worked fine so far_ **

Remus…

**_Three breakups in the past six months because of it! Let’s face it. Dating’s just not for me_ **

Don’t say that

Please?

I’ve already started planning your wedding

**_This isn’t happening_ **

Oh yes it is

**_That's it. I'm not talking to you anymore_ **

Come on Remus

Remus??

Dammit

Don’t deny your love!!

It’s very endearing

Fine. I’ll see you later

Remus sighed as he read Lily’s messages. The truth was, he did have a bit of a crush on the guy Lily was talking about (though he would never admit that to her). For the past two weeks, the most incredible looking guy Remus had ever seen had been coming to the coffee shop, and Remus fell in love just a bit more each time he saw him.

He had silky black hair that fell in waves to his shoulders and piercing grey eyes that made Remus’ heart flutter. His skin was very pale, but that only made him more attractive. He wore ripped up jeans (usually black) with a black leather jacket and a faded band tee. He had piercings on his ears and always had makeup on, and his smile was enough to make Remus forget whatever it was that he was thinking about.

He certainly was not the kind of guy Remus would expect to regularly visit a coffee shop and work on whatever he did on that computer of his, but Remus had absolutely no problem with that. A lot of surprises Remus had received in his life were not particularly great, but he was forever thankful for this one.

The first time he had told Lily about him, she had asked what his name was, and Remus was upset to discover that he in fact did not know it. He made it his mission to learn it, and not two days later he was triumphant in his quest.

**_Silas._ **

What?

**_The guy’s name. It’s Silas._ **

Are you sure?

**_That’s what he told me_ **

OH MY GOD YOU TALKED TO HIM??

**_Yes_ **

**_Technically_ **

**_But not really_ **

???

**_I was on cashier duty and he ordered a coffee_ **

Remusss

Did you at least flirt with him a little?

**_Of course not!_ **

Why not?

**_Because that would be very unprofessional and I don’t want to lose my job_ **

Damn you

**_But I know his name now!!_ **

Maybe

**_He /said/ it was Silas_ **

He could have been lying

**_Why would he do that?_ **

So the cute barista can’t go online and stalk him?

**_> :(_ **

I said you were cute!

**_Whatever_ **

Whatever

**_Bye Evans_ **

Bye Lupin

Remus had not learned anything else about the boy since that day almost two weeks ago, but he kept coming back to shop and Remus kept wishing he could get up the nerve to talk to him. It was very frustrating, and Lily certainly wasn’t helping. On the bright side, at least had physically _seen_ his crush, unlike Lily, who liked some guy she met on Tumblr. He remembered when she first told him about the guy:

Someone sent a message telling me they thought I was pretty on tumblr

**_That’s because you are_ **

Aww thanks

But they were on anon!!

I wish I knew who it was

**_Just reply to their message and tell them to message you off anon_ **

Um ok

I’ll go do that right now

**_Great_ **

Someone did message her and admit to sending her the original anon compliment. It was a guy named James, whom Lily insisted he follow and whom she had been talking about for several days.

“I don’t have like, a crush on him or anything,” she had told Remus and Dorcas last night during dinner. “I just think he seems nice.”

“You’ve never met the guy,” Dorcas pointed out.

“Yes, but I’ve _talked_ to him. Unlike some people we know,” she replied, looking pointedly at Remus.

“I will talk to him eventually,” Remus said.

“Of course you will,” Lily answered, sharing a look with Dorcas, who giggled.

“You two are ridiculous,” Remus sighed.

“Which is why you’re living with us,” Dorcas grinned. “No one else would put up with _your_ ridiculousness.”

They got into an argument over who was the most ridiculous of the three of them, and even though they decided it was Remus, he knew he wouldn’t trade these friends for the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess I'm going to try and update this once a week, but I don't know how long that will last. Again, if you notice any typos or any other mistakes, please let me know!  
> Thank you to everyone who's reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of exams and the Night of the Cathartic Scream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Messages from Sirius are italicized_   
>  **Messages from James are bolded**   
>  Messages from Lily are underlined

It was a Friday afternoon, and Sirius was exhausted. All of his actual assignments for first semester had been due today at the latest, so from now until winter break he would just have to study for his midyear exams.  Though he was glad he had all of his projects and essays turned in and done with, he was not looking forward to spending the next two weeks trying to remember everything he had learned over the past four months. If the last two weeks had been a nightmare, the next two would be hell

He, James, and Peter were going to a party later that night, but Sirius was surprisingly not looking forward to it. He would rather just go home and sleep for several years (or at least several hours) and go to some other party tomorrow. However, he knew James and Pete were really excited for this particular party, and he certainly wasn’t going to spoil their fun. 

Sirius decided to go to the coffee shop to A) get some caffeine into him before the party and B) hopefully get a glimpse of Barista Boy.  _ That _ would certainly perk him up. 

He was so lost in thought that he barely noticed when it was his turn to order. He heard a sharp “Hello?” and saw a hand snapping in his face before realizing that he must have been completely zoned out. Then he noticed who the hand belonged to and felt a blush creeping up his cheeks.

Barista Boy had very smooth looking olive skin and the prettiest hazel eyes Sirius had ever seen. His hair was tawny colored and hung in gently tousled curls around his face. There was a smattering of freckles across his nose, and Sirius thought they would be the death of him. He stood there for a moment, staring, until a small frown appeared on the other boy’s face. “Are you ok?” he asked, concern in his voice.

“What? Oh - oh yeah, I’m fine, just a bit tired,” Sirius said, blushing even more. Then, remembering where he was, said “Could I have an espresso, please?”

“Sure,” Barista Boy said, still eyeing him with concern. “Name?”

“Silas,” Sirius said automatically. He had learned long ago never to use his actual name in stores because it just confused people. He paid for the drink and walked away a little dazed. After picking up the coffee, Sirius went to the little table in the corner he always sat at and texted James.

_ You still up for tonight? _

**Yeah. Are you?**

_ I guess _

**You don’t sound very enthusiastic**

_ I may or may not have just embarrassed myself in front of Barista Boy and want to die right now. That’s all _

**What did you do?**

_ Spaced out. Didn’t hear a word of what he said. He asked me for my order three times _

**Smooth**

_ Shut it _

_ How are things with Lily, by the way? _

**Great. I finally sent her a picture of me**

_ And? _

**She thinks I’m hot**

_ Were those her exact words? _

**No, but they were close**

**Hang on I’ll send you a screenshot**

[  DAMN you’re attractive. You’ve been holding out on me, James. I should have asked for pics sooner  ]

_ Are you two gonna meet up? _

**I don’t know. We both agreed that we should get through exams first and then considering meeting up**

_ So it’s a possibility? _

**Yeah**

**I’d ask about you and Barista Boy, but I guess it’s clear you haven’t tried anything on him yet**

_ I’m waiting until after exams _

**Of course you are**

_ I am! _

**We’ll see about that**

**Oh and speaking of exams, I have a plan for Tuesday night**

_ Our first exam is on Wednesday though _

**Exactly**

_??? _

**I’ll tell you and Pete the details before we go the party tonight. That’s where we initiate phase one**

_ Of your plan? _

**Yep**

_ I can’t wait _

*****

Forty-five minutes later, James, Sirius, and Peter were leaving for one of the biggest parties of the year. It had taken James about ten minutes to explain his plan to Sirius and Pete, who were both extremely excited to put it in action. 

The party was the same as any of the parties they went to: loud, dark, and full of warm bodies. There were perhaps a few more bodies at this party than the other ones they had been to, which is why James was so insistent that they attend. They needed as many people on board with their plan as they could get.

They told anyone who would listen what the best way to spend Tuesday night would be, and easily shut down any arguments people had against their plan. By the time they left several hours later, they figured they had talked to at least a hundred people. Hopefully, they would all show up and they would all bring friends. The more people involved, the more fun it would be. 

The weekend passed with the three friends locked inside and pouring over their textbooks. Though none of them were particularly studious, none of them wanted to fail their exams either. 

Much to his disappointment, Sirius did not have time to visit the coffee shop over the next few days. Mr. Ollivander was on some sort of vacation and had decided to close the record store until he got back. This meant that Sirius didn’t have to work during exams, but it also meant that he had no reason to visit that particular area either. 

Tuesday came quicker than anticipated, and the boys spent the whole day positively buzzing with excitement. It was review day, so it was not mandatory that they attend any of their classes, but they went anyway in the hopes of getting more people to join them later that night. As soon as classes were over, they rushed over to Sirius and James’ flat to make some final preparations. 

At around ten o’clock, Sirius, James, and Peter left the flat, James carrying an overstuffed backpack on his shoulder. They took a bus to the outskirts of the city, where the university campus was located, and were delighted to see a rather large crowd of other students headed in the same direction as them. They were positively beaming as they made their way to an empty field next to one of the buildings.

By ten thirty, there were over a hundred people gathered in the field and it was pitch black out. Many of the students had brought torches, and a few had glow sticks. James, Sirius, and Peter thought that now would be as good a time to start as any.

James pulled out a megaphone from the backpack and stood up on an old tree stump so he would be slightly above everyone else and easily visible. “Hello!” he called, putting the megaphone to his mouth. “Can you all hear me?”

The crowd started cheering, and Sirius joined James up on the stump with his own megaphone.

“Now, I’m sure some of you are wondering what the hell we’re doing in empty field in the freezing cold dark of December the night before exams.” A murmur of laughter rippled through the crowd. “And we’re here to tell you!”

Pete stepped up next to Sirius. “Now, how many of you have been internally screaming for the past few weeks because of school?” Pete asked through his own megaphone. The crowd laughed again and some people shouted “Me!” or “I have!” to answer the question.

“Well, we thought it would be nice to let some of that tension go,” James said.

“And so, we have organized this: The Night of the Cathartic Scream!” Sirius shouted, and the crowd whooped and cheered.

“Basically, we’re going to turn that internal screaming into external screaming!” Pete explained. “We’re all going to start screaming at the same time and see how loud we can be!”

“Now we’d like for it to be as dark as possible, so if those of you with torches could turn them off, that would be fantastic.” Slowly, the lights in the field went out and soon it dark enough that it was difficult to see the face of whoever was sitting next to you. The moon and stars were mostly covered by clouds, so it was especially dark.

“In five minutes - at eleven o’clock exactly - we are all going to scream at the top of our lungs,” Sirius declared. “Until then, get comfortable, even your breathing, try to calm down a bit. This is supposed to lower everyone’s stress levels while scaring the shit out of anyone who can hear us.”

There was scattered laughter, and then everyone went quiet. The only sounds that could be heard was the wind whistling and the occasional chattering of teeth as people sat in the frigid winter air. Everyone was bundled up in their heaviest winter clothes, but they thought dealing with the cold was worth it. They had been lucky it had not snowed yet that year, though the ground was frozen solid.

At twenty seconds to eleven, James announced that they would be counting down soon. He, Sirius, and Peter were huddled around a little watch, waiting.

“FIVE,” they called in unison, and a few people in the crowd jumped.

“FOUR.” The tension in the air was palpable.

“THREE.” Some people shivered with anticipation.

“TWO.” Everyone was holding their breath.

“ONE.” And the moment was finally here. Over two hundred university students began screaming at the top of their lungs at the exact same time, and the noise was deafening. It sounded like the apocalypse, like all the life was being sucked out of the world and this was humanity’s last defense against oblivion. It sounded like the lords of hell had just been released on the Earth and the only thing people could think to do was scream in fear, in anger, in agony. 

Sirius thought one of his eardrums might explode from the noise, but he kept screaming. When he ran out of air, he took another breath and started screaming again. Soon, his throat started hurting and he stopped for fear of injuring his vocal chords. Slowly, the screams began to die out as other people’s throats became raw. Sirius looked at the watch and saw that they had been screaming for nearly ten minutes. It had felt amazing.

Even when no one was actively making noise anymore, the echoes of the screams still reverberated in the distance. People were laughing and smiling, and James, Peter, and Sirius grinned at each other. They were glad they had been able to ease some of the anxiety felt by their peers. Sometimes, all you need to do to calm down is violently shred your vocal chords in the middle of the night amongst hundreds of other people.

It was now almost eleven twenty. James stood up, coughed a little, and picked up his megaphone. “Thank you all for coming,” he said in a raspy voice. He coughed again. “I hope you all had as much fun as we did! Good luck on your exams!” 

With that, he jumped down from the stump and was quickly followed by Sirius and Pete. People began to realize that the Night of the Cathartic Scream was over, and the crowd moved as one toward the city. James, Sirius, and Peter walked arm in arm and were absolutely delighted at their success. They hoped that they would be able to do this again next year.

They got home at about midnight. Pete had told Becca that he was spending the night with James and Sirius. As soon as they reached the flat, the three friends went straight to their respective bedrooms and crashed like they had just fought a difficult battle, though they knew the real struggle would begin the next morning.

*****

James was the first to wake up. When Sirius wandered downstairs, he found James laughing his head off at something on the telly. “What are you watching?” he asked.

“The news. Oh, it’s brilliant, mate. Come see.”

Sirius sat down on the couch next to James and watched the special report that was on the morning news.

_ “...loud, spectral screaming coming from the university last night. The police received several calls reporting violent shrieking coming from just outside the city, but were unable to find any evidence of there being anything out of the ordinary in the area. Locals and authorities alike are baffled by what could have caused the screaming. Was there a murder? Was it some sort of cult? More on this story as it develops. Now, on to…” _

Sirius was laughing so hard tears were leaking from the corners of his eyes. “Cult worship! They think we’re Satanists, James”

“I know!” James, too, was laughing hysterically. “This will certainly be a story to tell the grandkids…”

They wrestled Pete out bed to tell him they had made the news, and he was just as amused by it as they were. They spent the entire morning chuckling about it under their breaths while they got ready.   
Even though they were leaving to attend their first midyear exam at university, Sirius, James, and Peter had rarely been in better spirits in their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT"S BEEN THREE WEEKS OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY!! I will try to update more often but my life can be pretty hectic at times.  
> I've edited chapter 2 a bit so you might want to consider rereading it.  
> I've also written a Valentine's Day wolfstar one shot called  Look Alive, Valentine  if anyone wants to read it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! As you can probably tell, this is a wolfstar/jily fic I will be writing. I.'my not British, so if I screw up some British related thing (or if I screw up anything in general) please let me know! I will update when I can, but I do have a very busy schedule so I apologize in advance if it's a while between updates. Thanks for reading!


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